Book Warriors

It’s been awhile since I’ve been this enraptured by a book, and truly, I love Graceling. Kristin Cashore has opened a rich world of seven kingdoms with “seven thoroughly unpredictable kings.” In these lands where the kings tend toward tyranny over the people, some individuals are graced with special abilities–some are amazing cooks, others can foretell the future, and some, like Katsa, niece of King Randa of the Midlands, are graced with the ability to kill. Like most of the kings, Randa has claimed Katsa’s abilities for his own uses and she finds herself a tool being used to torture and kill the king’s enemies. Katsa worries she is becoming a monster and longs to escape her uncle’s control. With the help of her mentor and her beloved cousin, she is finding ways to thwart the destructiveness of the kings.

On one such mission to stop an evil plan, Katsa meets Po, a graced fighter and prince of the kingdom of Lienid. Po is a worthy adversary for Katsa and friendship blossoms between them as they practice their fighting. When they join forces to attempt a daring rescue of Po’s cousin Princess Bittersblue, new revelations change their relationship and Katsa must confront her feelings and the truth about her abilities…but only after a desperate race for survival through the mountains.

I can’t do this book justice in a brief summary. The characters are richly developed and interesting, the plot addictive, the conclusion satisfying without being too neatly wrapped up. Two more books are planned in the trilogy, one a prequel (Fire, out October 2009) and the other a sequel/companion novel following Princess Bitterblue (Bitterblue, in the works).

Madapple, also known as “rank-smelling, rash-causing, poisonous jimsonweed…green dragon and stinkwort and angel’s-trumpet” is also the title of the strange and intriguing first novel by Christina Meldrum. Meldrum took to the old addage to “write what you know,” spinning a tale that taps her knowledge and interest in nature and religion and her experience with the juidicial system. It is the story of Aslaug Hellig, a young woman raised in almost complete isolation by her mother in rural Maine. Her mother, Maren, has encyclopedic knowledge of science and philosophy, and, scorning the education the local school would give her daughter, educates Aslaug herself. Aslaug grows in academic knowledge but remains ignorant of the outside world or how to socialize with the people in it. Aslaug also has no knowledge of who her father is, as Maren refuses to give Aslaug any details about her family and relatives. Aslaug feels this ignorance, and resents her mother for keeping her insulated from the world even though she also loves her mother in a worshipful sort of way.

The chapters following Aslaug are filled with a lyrical beauty, which contrasts deeply with the interspersed chapters covering Aslaug’s trial for the murder of her mother, aunt, and cousin (I warned you this was a strange book). These pages read like transcripts and allow the reader to judge Aslaug’s story like a juror, hearing the events and circumstances of Aslaug’s life through the eyes of coroners, police detectives, and forensic pathologists. This is a powerful technique when mixed with Aslaug’s telling of events, one that builds suspense and a feeling of horror as you begin to put together the truth and suspect that justice may not be done in this case.

All told, an extremely well-written book full of mystery and suspense, one that technically fits the young adult label since the main narrator is a young adult but is definitely meant for more mature audiences since it deals with deep philosophical questions and issues like incest and drug use.

“I remember wanting the madapple to carry me away, to take me to that place again. And I wonder, If I go, will I find Mother there?”

From the always funny E. Lockhart comes her latest novel The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. The title character is one of those smart, sassy heroines you often find in YA novels, who are identifiable, and sort of remind you of a cooler version of yourself. Frankie, at age 14, was a gangly, kinda geeky-but-not-a-social-outcast girl attending the private boarding school her father went to. Frankie at 15 is about to return to her private boarding school with a newly developed body and a self-possession that means she knows what she wants and she’s going to go after it. Within no time she’s landed a hot senior boyfriend and is hanging with the coolest group of kids in the school. But deep-down, Frankie worries that Matthew only likes her when she’s not taking the lead or being the center of attention, and she knows he’s keeping a big secret from her. When she can’t get him to share his secret all-male society, she decides she will teach these boys a lesson they won’t soon forget. Of course, in the process, she begins to lose track of herself, and things don’t wind up quite like she’d imagined.

Disreputable is an interesting look at one girl’s desire to be one of the boys without losing her femininity or self-respect. While the plot is less dark and traumatic than John Green’s Looking for Alaska, the common setting of a private boarding school make for a few interesting parallels. Whether you find yourself rooting for Frankie or not, you’ll enjoy the game.

When Scarlett Martin turns 15, she is given the key to her very own hotel suite…to take care of. You see, Scarlett’s family owns a hotel in New York City, which sounds very glamorous, but is actually hard work…and not a very financially successful enterprise as of late. The tradition is to give each of their children a hotel suite to be responsible for when they reach 15, and when Scarlett is given the Empire Suite, she also inherits an unusual, generous, and demanding guest named Mrs. Amberson. As if that’s not enough, Scarlett’s older sister is having love life problems, her older brother may have to give up his dream of acting, her younger sister has survived cancer to become a brat, and her parents have had to dismiss all the other employees at the hotel. Scarlett’s guest Mrs. Amberson, a wealthy ex-actress and wannabe author, hires Scarlett as her assistant and in no time at all has involved herself in Scarlett’s family’s problems, including helping her aspiring actor brother by taking over the direction of a play.

This book is fast-paced and lots of fun–among the best of the genre. Author Maureen Johnson accurately portrays the confusion of first love and the intricate dynamics of sisters and brothers. The end result is a witty, sweet, charming book with an extremely likeable cast of characters.